Where does Lebron rank all-time now?

[Bilz]

People keep talking to me about LBJ's defense like Pierce and Durant didn't get theirs this year on Lebron...

He's a defensive presence but Prime Kobe was the best man to man defender in the NBA.

It's funny how prime Kobe has two completely different meanings. When people say prime Kobe in an offensive sense, they're talking about 2005-2008 when his ballhogging was unbounded. When people say prime Kobe in a defensive sense, they're talking about 2000-2002 when he gambled like a motherfukker and Shaq was waiting behind to clean up any mess.

Defense has always seemed like a part time thing for Kobe. For much of his career, he has been shielded from having to play much defense at all. His media play is top notch tho. 79 games = no defense, playing free safety and forcing the other team's worst player to take open jump shots; 2 games = guards Wade in a comically overdramatic fashion, 1 game = switches to Melo on a couple possessions and tries to body the shyt out of him. Add it up and it's " he guards the other team's best player! He could be dpoy!"

 

[Liquid]

im not understanding how lebron winning a ring with dwayne wade, chris bosh and excellent play from the roleplayers makes him jump into the top 5. If you already had him ranked near the top 5 im not talking about you. Im referring to the guys who said he wasnt top 10. I don't see how this is significant enough to make a guy jump from outside the top 10 to inside the top 5.

enlighten me

He has accomplished everything you can possibly accomplish outside of the 3 point, skills challenge, and dunk contest.

Dominance all around. 28/7/7 for his career thus far, no signs of slowing down yet. Took a terrible franchise to the finals and almost nobody remembers anyone on those Cleveland teams.

Wade was inconsistent as fukk in the playoffs. Bosh was hurt. LeBron led them the whole way AND hit clutch shots in the finals.

What more does he need to accomplish? Maybe another 2 rings? I can't argue that, but I am just having a tough time picking 5 players I would rather start a franchise with than LeBron.

The obvious 2 are Jordan and Magic, everyone else? There is AT LEAST a debate to be had IMO. I have him over Bird.

 

[verbaltelekinesis]

what does that have to do with kobe?

pierce was getting off on luke walton

kobe was guarding rondo

Yep! I forgot about that, because Rondo was killin Fish! And when Phil would put Kobe on Pierce late in games he would either get a stop and I believe he got a steal to seal game 3 against Pierce. But yeah, Pierce was COOKIN Luke Walton!

 

[dtownreppin214]

Kobe had to guards point guards too... those lakers teams just put kobe on the other teams best scorer and said work. From the 1 to the 3 Kobe was on em.

i never claimed kobe wasn't a versatile defender. you made the point that kd got 30+ this series, i'm saying find me a player on kd's level that kobe shutdown in his prime.

 

[Rich Spirit]

definitely top 10

 

[Houston911]

He has accomplished everything you can possibly accomplish outside of the 3 point, skills challenge, and dunk contest.

Dominance all around. 28/7/7 for his career thus far, no signs of slowing down yet. Took a terrible franchise to the finals, almost nobody remembers anyone on those Cleveland teams.

Make no mistake about it, Wade was inconsistent as fukk in the playoffs. Bosh was hurt, LeBron led them the whole way AND hit clutch shots in the finals.

What more does he need to accomplish? Maybe another 2 rings? I can't argue that, but I am just having a tough time picking 5 players I would rather start a franchise with than LeBron.

The obvious 2 are Jordan and Magic, everyone else? There is AT LEAST a debate to be had IMO. I have him over Bird.

this has absolutely nothing to do with my question

all that shyt you listed is great, but if he wasn't top 10 before, how does winning a rin with the best supporting cast in the league make him top 5 instantly? that doesnt add up

im not saying he's not top 5 or top 10....im saying its stupid to think he should leapfrog a bunch of people behind one ring. this isn't a situation like hakeem where he carried a bunch of role players...he had the best teammates in the league.

 

[Malta]

People keep talking to me about LBJ's defense like Pierce and Durant didn't get theirs this year on Lebron...

He's a defensive presence but Prime Kobe was the best man to man defender in the NBA.

Pierce just came off a series where he shot 34% against the Heat

 

[No1]

i never claimed kobe wasn't a versatile defender. you made the point that kd got 30+ this series, i'm saying find me a player on kd's level that kobe shutdown in his prime.

He never really guarded a player of that caliber for a series. He was on AI in spots, but it wasn't really working all that well. But it's not like Bron would be able to stay in front of AI without help either. He was too fast back then.

 

[Bilz]

Kobe had to guards point guards too... those lakers teams just put kobe on the other teams best scorer and said work. From the 1 to the 3 Kobe was on em.

He guards point guards that can't score from outside. He guards small forwards and shooting guards that can't score on the drive. If the guy is a two way player, then he's someone else's job.

They didn't put Kobe on Rondo to shut down Rondo, they put him on them so he didn't get worn out by Ray Allen or Paul Pierce. He could just chill in the key and hope Boston decides to run their offense through Rondo midrange jumpers.

 

[Malta]

05-06
27 points on 43% shooting
38 points on 46% shooting

06-07
36 points on 50% shooting
34 points on 41% shooting

07-08
21 points on 36% shooting
33 points on 48% shooting

31.5 on 44% shooting, YBE's point is that because KD scored against LeBron, that means prime Kobe would put up 60. I don't see any 60pt games there even though he was in his prime.

 

[verbaltelekinesis]

It's funny how prime Kobe has two completely different meanings. When people say prime Kobe in an offensive sense, they're talking about 2005-2008 when his ballhogging was unbounded. When people say prime Kobe in a defensive sense, they're talking about 2000-2002 when he gambled like a motherfukker and Shaq was waiting behind to clean up any mess.

Defense has always seemed like a part time thing for Kobe. For much of his career, he has been shielded from having to play much defense at all. His media play is top notch tho. 79 games = no defense, playing free safety and forcing the other team's worst player to take open jump shots; 2 games = guards Wade in a comically overdramatic fashion, 1 game = switches to Melo on a couple possessions and tries to body the shyt out of him. Add it up and it's " he guards the other team's best player! He could be dpoy!"

Bilz, you're hilarious. While some people may give him too much credit, you don't give him any. And it looks like you might have found a Laker trolling buddy.

 

[verbaltelekinesis]

31.5 on 44% shooting, YBE's point is that because KD scored against LeBron, that means prime Kobe would put up 60. I don't see any 60pt games there even though he was in his prime.

I didn't post it to say anything one way or the other, I just posted the numbers. But yeah, they're pretty good.

 

[Liquid]

this has absolutely nothing to do with my question

all that shyt you listed is great, but if he wasn't top 10 before, how does winning a rin with the best supporting cast in the league make him top 5 instantly? that doesnt add up

im not saying he's not top 5 or top 10....im saying its stupid to think he should leapfrog a bunch of people behind one ring. this isn't a situation like hakeem where he carried a bunch of role players...he had the best teammates in the league.

I am just saying that I can see how people would jump him that high after accomplishing the only negative on his record. This might sound blasphemous to some, but I think he was already top 10 because of his individual accomplishments. His impact has been felt on 2 franchises at the same time. His "decision" alone accounted for a massive swing in the east, completely changed the outlook for 2 franchises for the next decade. I had this debate with CHICAGO when we were all still in the projects.

I understand your argument about best teammates, but in the playoffs? Bosh and Wade were inconsistent as fukk. Bosh was hurt, LeBron had to go Super Saiyan against Boston to lead them to the finals.

 

[verbaltelekinesis]

He guards point guards that can't score from outside. He guards small forwards and shooting guards that can't score on the drive. If the guy is a two way player, then he's someone else's job.

They didn't put Kobe on Rondo to shut down Rondo, they put him on them so he didn't get worn out by Ray Allen or Paul Pierce. He could just chill in the key and hope Boston decides to run their offense through Rondo midrange jumpers.

So you don't remember Rondo beating Fish like a rented mule?

 

[Malta]

I didn't post it to say anything one way or the other, I just posted the numbers. But yeah, they're pretty good.

I never said the numbers were bad

Just that Kobe isn't getting 60pts against LeBron because KD averaged 30, that's more of a slap in the face to KD than anything else.